28.3.12

Month of August is approaching, though it is 5 months away, I have to collect more ideas about Brunei's one of the biggest event celebrated every year which gonna fall within that month. Upon searching and searching and searching... I stumbled upon my last year's Brunei Hari Raya Aidil Fitri experiences. It's a great experienced because for almost 2 years working in Brunei, It was the first time seeing the most important person of their land. And not just simply seeing him but greeted and shaking hands with the Sultan Hadji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darrusalam!

Okay, here's how it happened.

Last year, I shake hands with the Sultan during the final day of Hari Raya Aidil Fitri 2011 celebrations at Istana Nurul Iman.

Sultan of Brunei

The Istana Nurul Iman palace, the Sultan’s official residence, provides visitors a spectacular sight.
It is the biggest palace in the world, much bigger than the Vatican palace. US$ 350 million was spent in erecting the palace. It has 1788 rooms, 257 bathrooms and the total floor area is 2,152,782 sq. feet.

I learned from the local news that day that the overall number of guests over the three days was 94,431 (imagine, ganyan ka dami kakamayan mo?!). And among the 14,766 who paid respects to the royal family during the final session in the afternoon (September 03, 2011), was I and the Cercado family. It's so overwhelming to be part of the celebration, and of course, shaking hands with the very important and highly respected persons in Brunei: His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and members of the royal family who continued from the previous days, meeting and greeting with well-wishers who had begun queuing outside the palace from 7am in the morning.

hariraya istana nurul iman sultan brune
We arrived at Nurul Iman Palace at exactly 1:00 in the afternoon. And the adventures begin:

After receiving the coupon, we proceeded to the meal booth. Choosing the food we want to eat, & take note: Eat All You Can and the good thing was: It's FREE!No wonder why t'was too hard finding vacant area for us to dine in.

Only one thing for sure you should worry about... ...when you're violating the rules.

A visitor violating the Dress Code

How I really wished to wear that Baju Melayu and Songkok...

Oh! sad to say... but at this point, cameras and phones are not allowed.

What do we do in there?

Well, after staying at the wide room that can accommodates hundreds of visitors, we continue queuing till we reach our destination—the room where we meet the Sultan and the rest of the Royal Family—shaking hands with them. (Greetings! Greetings! Greetings!)

Do you still remember the Discount Card I'm talking earlier?

After meeting with the latter, next stop was the Kiosk where guard asked you where's that Discount Card, then you hand it over to him and few steps ahead—the Hari Raya Card and the Gift Box will be given.

I am overwhelmed meeting them and almost forgot to get tatay's baseball cap at the baggage counter (It's not allowed wearing any caps unless if it is a songkok or kopiah, when you are meeting with the Royal Family).

After 2 hours, we're done. It's time to leave the area so that they will have more space for the new comers.

Since the family group are segregated by gender, some are waiting for their loveone's outside.

Some are exhausted...

Others are thirsty...

Few are sleepy...

and even this little princess was really, really tired that cannot help herself but cry.hariraya istana nurul iman sultan brunei

But tatay is in good condition. I never saw him so tired that day.

Hmm. Did I say he never get tired???

Okay, you take a rest tatay, while I enjoyed taking pictures...

Awesome garden, flag pole and fountains

Decorated street lamps

Marching soldiers

Buses, Visitors & Traffic Enforcer

Hey.. what's up there?

Okay, guys.. what's really up there you're looking at?

Oh, it's the Flag!

Lucky this guy.. He got two souvenirs down there.

Wait mafla, I'm not ready yet.

Where's my souvenir boxes??

Say, "Cheese!"

"Burguurrr!!"

"Focus... focus... focus..."

It's not hard for them to find their siblings because of their dress codes. And of course, they have cellphones too.hariraya istana nurul iman sultan brunei

"I need to use macro on this."

Just like them, I was so eager to know what's inside the gift box. So, when we arrived home we open it and this is what we've got.

The Hari Raya Card's details

That's all kawan! Looking forward to visit the palace again this year.

Haha I love reading this post.. Thanks for the humor! I have stayed in Malaysia for almost 6 yrs and the locals there are almost the as there in Brunei, thanks for this post, now I miss my Malay friends...

Gosh...I can't believe you survived that long queuing just to have a shake hands with the Sultan?

Maybe I would have surrendered right outside the door upon knowing how many people are inside.... but it was good thing that there is a free food...I am kinda curious on how was the taste of the food being served inside...

While slowly reading and was looking at the photo...I was like "what is that yellow box"? later did I know that the Sultan is somehow very philanthropist to even handing one souvenir to every visitor...

This was such a fun post to read! :) I giggled a lot following the odyssey of your day through your pictures and humorous way of recounting it.

I have a very good friend from Malaysia here in the Netherlands, who I spend time with whenever I have time to go to Amsterdam because he is a very good company. Previously, while still living in Germany, I met very congenial Malaysians from my language school. You are very lucky to be where you are!

The Sultan of Brunei and his royal family is very famous for his kindness and generosity here in Europe. I am very pleased to read a personal account supporting this as fact. :)